Barnard Glacier is a long

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. It trends southwest to the Chitina River east of

Hawkins Glacier Hawkins Glacier is a long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southwest from Mount Bona to its terminus at the Chitina River west of Barnard Glacier, 37 miles (60 km) southeast of McCarthy. See also * List of glaciers A gla ...

, southeast of

McCarthy McCarthy (also spelled MacCarthy or McCarty) may refer to: * MacCarthy, a Gaelic Irish clan * McCarthy, Alaska, United States * McCarty, Missouri, United States * McCarthy Road, a road in Alaska * McCarthy (band), an indie pop band * Château MacC ...

in the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...

. The glacier is named for

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, a member of the Seven Sisters that is associated with

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

Geography

Barnard Glacier is a clean, crevassed ice tongue, with no medial or lateral moraines. It heads in a large cirque and connects with an irregular ice mass on a shelf to the nor glacier which has small terminal lobes and terminates on the lip of its hanging valley. Two streams descend from the terminus. Mature spruce forest extending from the fiord well up toward the glacier terminus indicates that Barnard Glacier has not descended much farther toward the fiord for a century or more; but a barren zone between the ice and forest, present in 1899 as well as in 1910, proves that it was retreating. Between 1899 and 1910 there was an advance of the south lobe down the lip of the hanging valley, and a slight advance of the north lobe, while between the two lobes an ice block talus was formed.

References

* * Glaciers of Alaska Glaciers of Copper River Census Area, Alaska Glaciers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska {{CopperRiverAK-geo-stub